Consensus that Gingrich won the debate--How damaging is Marianne for Newt?--Six Perry post mortems -- McDonnell backs Romney -- Cain, Colbert to rally in Charleston--Noonan worries GOP is blowing it

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.—One year from today, America will inaugurate a president. Will it be Barack Obama, Mitt Romney or someone else?

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THE YUCK FACTOR – MARIANNE GINGRICH’S NIGHTLINE INTERVIEW: “Marianne Gingrich says Gingrich asked her for an ‘open marriage’ so he could be with his then-mistress Callista without getting a divorce...She said Gingrich asked for a divorce shortly after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The pair had been married for 18 years…Marianne Gingrich said she found out, during discussions about a divorce, that Newt and Callista had carried on their affair in the Gingriches’ Washington apartment. ‘I found out during our conversations that it was occurring in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington,’ she said. ‘ He always called me at night, and always ended with ‘I love you.’ Well, she was listening.’” Emily Schultheis’ story about the interview: http://politi.co/yNd3oX. Watch the full 8.5-minute segment that aired on Nightline: http://abcn.ws/y1XBB2.

NEWT FOUGHT BACK AT LAST NIGHT’S DEBATE – HOW DAMAGING WILL THIS BE? “With a rousing denunciation of the news media right out of the gate, Gingrich electrified the conservative audience here and temporarily defused an issue that poses a lethal threat to his campaign,” Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns write. “His blistering response to CNN’s John King about the accusations lodged by Marianne Gingrich might even offer a short-term lift. ‘Watch it help Newt,’ predicted former South Carolina GOP chair Katon Dawson…likening the Marianne Gingrich’s claims to the unproven 2010 accusations that South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley conducted an extramarital affair. ‘It looked like they were picking on her.’ http://politi.co/xdqjvS

MARIANNE spoke to THE WASHINGTON POST after Gingrich implicitly called her a liar: “After Gingrich’s comments at the debate, Marianne Gingrich declined to directly respond to the denial, other than to say she was sticking by her story, which she said is ‘the truth.’” More from James Grimaldi’s interview with her about the circumstances surrounding the dissolution of the candidate’s second marriage: “Marianne said her husband told her, ‘In a few years I’m going to run for president. She’s going to help me become president.’ … She said Gingrich has not spoken to her since the divorce.” http://wapo.st/AA3oS1

HERMAN CAIN defended Gingrich on Fox News this morning: “I loved Newt Gingrich’s response because that’s the same crap that they pulled on me, and that’s what’s wrong with politics. This is what’s turning the American people off.” http://politi.co/wooedx

JENNY SANFORD, the ex-wife of Mark Sanford, told Chris Matthews on Hardball: “As a voter…if you're going to overcome somebody's moral failings or infidelities, you have to also look at where they stand ideologically and how much does their rhetoric match their reality. In my mind, Gingrich falls short on both fronts. So, he wouldn't get my vote.” http://on.msnbc.com/yUPYEp

JON STEWART went after Gingrich on his program last night for the “disturbing” revelation in a segment entitled “Freaker of the Spouse”: http://gaw.kr/y7xgrM.

GINGRICH RELEASED HIS TAX RETURNS LAST NIGHT: “Newt Gingrich revealed Thursday that he and his wife earned $3.1 million in 2010, and paid more than 30 percent of that in taxes – roughly twice the rate paid by [Romney],” per Ken Vogel and Ginger Gibson. “The twice-divorced Gingrich also reported paying $19,800 in alimony, though his returns don’t indicate whether the recipient is his first wife Jackie Battley, or his second, Marianne Gingrich.” Two things caught my eye: Gingrich gaveonly three percent of his gross income to charity. [Romney has said he tithes.] He also received $2,400 in “gross foreign source income.” The campaign could not say what this was last night. http://politi.co/wtDRAw

FIVE MEMORABLE MOMENTS: Jedd Rosche transcribed five scenes from the two-hours: Gingrich attacks John King, Romney tries to duck the tax return question, and Gingrich calls his own ideas grandiose. Romney jokes that his biggest regret of the year is not getting 25 more votes. And Gingrich makes a great Obamacare joke. If you missed the debate, this 1-minute, 40-second video is worth watching: http://politi.co/xFeUXc.

SIX TAKEAWAYS from Maggie Haberman:

Gingrich came ready for Marianne questions: “Gingrich had the type of moment that GOP strategist Alex Castellanos has described as a critical ‘moment of strength.’ … the crowd’s strong response inoculated him over the ex-wives issue and made it all but impossible for other candidates to attack him…It was, simply put, Gingrich’s best single moment in any 2012 debate, and he’s had many good ones. His overall performance in Monday’s debate was better, but coming so close to the primary election, last night was exactly what he needed.”

Romney whiffed: “It was surprising that Romney had such a marble-mouthed response when King asked him about releasing his tax forms… Tax returns are not, as Romney advisers correctly assert privately, generally an issue voters really care about. But the combination of Romney’s personal wealth and a narrative about him being distant and opaque is making it a sustained media issue. The discussion of abortion and Romneycare — which Romney, in an apparent first, referred to as ‘Romneycare’ — didn’t really favor him, since Santorum and Gingrich landed some shots on him.”

Santorum won’t be ignored: “On points, Rick Santorum was actually the winner of the debate. Alas, debates are not won on points, but key moments. Still, Santorum had his best debate of the season, and made clear he is not going to lie down for Gingrich, who is hoping upon hope that he will.”

Bad, grandiose Newt is still lurking: “While he had a few sharp lines about jobs and the economy, overall it was not his tightest performance. And, in a too-cute move, Gingrich put out his tax returns, after deriding Mitt Romney for days on the issue, in the middle of the debate when no one was paying attention — a bit of a low mark in a discussion of transparency.”

TIME OF PESSESSION – NEWT WAS THE CENTER OF ATTENTION, BUT SANTORUM GOT THE MOST CAMERA TIME: Santorum, 22 minutes and 30 seconds; Romney, 22:08; Gingrich, 18:56; Paul, 16:19. The University of Minnesota also notes that Gingrich received the first question at six of the last seven debates. http://bit.ly/wM793e

WEEKLY STANDARD editor Bill Kristol – BAD NIGHT FOR ROMNEY: “Romney had, I thought, a potentially problematic debate, because he failed to shut down or even to blunt two distinct lines of attack that are problematic for him: his taxes, and Romneycare. Romney left himself open to future debate, and future attacks, on both fronts, by not providing a convincing reason as to why April rather than now is the right time for him to release his taxes, and by standing by Romneycare without explaining how it's fundamentally different from Obamacare (if it is). Neither of these may matter much—it's not as if Republican primary voters were unaware of either issue before the debate, or that there's an obvious way for Romney to have made them go away. But I do wonder whether, if you were an undecided voter, your two main takeaways from the debate wouldn't be that Romney seems evasive on taxes and unconvincing on Romneycare.” http://bit.ly/zy0x66

NATIONAL REVIEW editor Rich Lowry – NEWT WINS OPEN, SANTORUM WINS THE REST: “Newt had another ‘moment.’ He’s setting a new standard for himself. If he doesn’t get a standing ovation at some point in the next debate, we’ll have to say he lost…I thought [Santorum] was excellent. His manner was calm and serious and he came in tonight with a clear strategy of differentiating himself from Romney and Gingrich and succeeded. On Monday, he seemed just to be flailing around; tonight everything had a point. He hit the bingo word on Gingrich: grandiosity. Gingrich parried pretty effectively, but Santorum’s basic critique is unanswerable because it’s true. Romney feel a little worn down to me, like he just trying to get by now. His answer on the tax returns was, again, lousy. He’s succeeded in convincing anyone paying attention that he must be hiding something, whether he is or not. At this point, you have to favor Gingrich to win South Carolina. Then, it’d be on to Florida, with Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich all having won once.” http://bit.ly/xH1KWD

THE NEW REPUBLIC’s Walter Shapiro – MEDIA UNDERESTIMATES NEWT AT THEIR OWN PERIL: “The South Carolina primary has become a referendum on Newt Gingrich. Just 10 days after he was left in a dustbin labeled ‘Yesterday’s Man’ after dismal finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, Gingrich has confounded the experts yet again. The oft-derided and consistently under-estimated House speaker has now bested Jesus in his sheer number of resurrections—an association that can only help as the South Carolina primary vote looms.” http://bit.ly/zKZyFG

FIVETHIRTYEIGHT’s Nate Silver – ROMNEY PRESUMPTUOUSNESS ENDANGERS S.C. LEAD: “Most football fans have learned to hate the ‘prevent defense,’ a strategy that is employed when a team holds a lead late in the game. In theory, the strategy involves being willing to yield short completions to the offense in an effort to prevent a big gain. In reality, it seems to yield plenty of short completions — but also its share of big gains as the offense takes advantage of the soft coverage. Hence the aphorism ‘the prevent defense only prevents you from winning.’ … Our forecasts now say that Mr. Gingrich has become the slight favorite to win in South Carolina. We will see whether that comes to fruition, but Mr. Romney’s prevent defense has allowed Mr. Gingrich to drive to his 30-yard line.” http://nyti.ms/yshHdp

OTHER MSM STORY LINES THAT EMERGED FROM THE DEBATE –

SANTORUM FINALLY ATTACKS GINGRICH (PROBABLY TOO LATE): “We just witnessed the implosion of a long-time friendship and political alliance, as Mr. Santorum unloaded against Mr. Gingrich, his one-time mentor in the House – on his ‘grandiosity,’ not having ‘cogent thoughts’ and worrying whether ‘something’s going to pop’ about his personal life,” The New York Times’ Katharine Seelye blogged: http://nyti.ms/xF5Bkf. [Santorum also hit both Romney and Gingrich on the mandate and said health car would be off the table if either was the nominee: http://lat.ms/x3z2Fl]

TAX RETURNS –ROMNEY BATTLES EMERGING IMAGE AS PLUTOCRAT: “Romney said at Thursday’s debate he’ll release his tax returns in April — but the booing that drew suggests Republican primary voters don’t appear willing to wait,” Reid Epstein writes. “It’s not that they have problems with his record at Bain Capital — Romney has effectively neutralized many of those lines by calling them attacks on free enterprise out of step with the GOP. But the combination of the tax return issue, reports that his former firm parked assets in Cayman tax shelters and his own rhetorical missteps is beginning to paint him as a plutocrat rather than ‘someone who’s lived in the real streets of America,’ as he described himself at Thursday’s debate. The tax returns delay provides the opening for growing suspicion and unease about the candidate who’s been leading the polls here.” http://politi.co/zWotum

DNC POST-DEBATE VIDEO POUNCES ON “MAYBE”: When asked if he would do as his dad had done and release his taxes for multiple years, all Mitt would say was “maybe.” A Democratic National Committee official emailed overnight: “Mitt Romney thinks he can play by another set of rules - which explains why he is losing support in South Carolina and is failing to connect with the middle class.” Watch: http://bit.ly/yJlFeS.

BOSTON WOULD PREFER YOU WATCH THIS 30-SECOND VIDEO: It’s of Romney engaging a protester as he worked the crowd yesterday morning. The heckler asks, "What will you do to support the 99 percent seeing as how you are part of the 1 percent?" Romney responds forcefully: “America's right and you're wrong.” YouTube: http://bit.ly/yWSm3C.

ROMNEY’S BEST LINE OF THE NIGHT GOT OVERSHADOWED: “Mr. Romney told Mr. Gingrich that for all his talk aligning himself with Ronald Reagan during his days in Congress, ‘I looked at the Reagan diary; you’re mentioned once.’” Jim Rutenberg and Jeff Zeleny: http://nyti.ms/zrXRR9

THE TWO BEST FACT CHECKS –

THE NEW YORK TIMES challenges Romney’s claim that he didn’t receive an inheritance, Gingrich’s claim that Romney funded abortions and Santorum’s statistic about the decline of manufacturing. http://nyti.ms/wovx86

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: “Romney perpetuated one unsubstantiated claim, about his record at Bain Capital, and more or less corrected himself on another, about President Barack Obama's health care law, in the latest Republican presidential debate. His rivals flubbed history, Gingrich blaming a Democratic president for a jobless rate he never had, and Paul painting an idyllic picture of life before Medicare that did not reflect deprivations of that time.” http://bit.ly/xsl0f6

ONE MORE DAY – THE BATTLE FOR SOUTH CAROLINA CONTINUES:

BREAKING – MCDONNELL WILL ENDORSE, CAMPAIGN WITH ROMNEY TODAY: “Gov. Bob McDonnell will endorse Mitt Romney today, throwing his support behind the former Massachusetts governor a day ahead of the South Carolina primary,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch scoops. “Romney's campaign is expected to announce the endorsement this morning, just as McDonnell begins a series of previously scheduled cable television interviews on CNN, CNBC and Fox. McDonnell is in New York City this morning for a state-related economic development meeting, but will fly to South Carolina this afternoon to join Romney, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and others at a rally in Charleston. He will travel to Greenville with Romney for a campaign event tonight and stay for a Saturday morning event before returning to Richmond.” http://bit.ly/xwGK1E

WHAT THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES ARE UP TO: Gingrich speaks at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference here and tours a hospital in Charleston before going to Hartsville and North Charleston. Romney holds an 11 a.m. rally at a tree farm in Gilbert before going to Greenville for a get-out-the-vote event (the aim is to run up his margin and keep down Newt’s margin in the conservative upstate). Santorum hosts meetings in Lexington, Fort Mill and Boiling Springs. He wraps up the day with an election-eve rally at The Citadel. Paul makes whistle stop visits in Charleston, North Myrtle Beach, Florence, Warrenville and Greenville. He finishes his swing with a 9 p.m. rally in Columbia. Details of all the events: http://politi.co/xqpuI1

CAIN, COLBERT TO RALLY IN CHARLESTON: The most-talked about ‘political’ event of the day may wind up being a Stephen Colbert rally with Herman Cain. It’s at 1 p.m. at the Cistern Yard at the College of Charleston. Details via the Post and Courier: http://bit.ly/zH0G5e. Speaking of STEPHEN COLBERT, he took stock of the wild Thursday on his show last night: http://gaw.kr/AjW5TX.

THE LATEST POLLING –

GINGRICH OPENING UP SOUTH CAROLINA LEAD IN PPP TRACKING: Gingrich led Romney by 6, 35-29, with Paul and Santorum tied for third at 15 in a Public Policy Polling automated survey conducted last night. “For the first time in our South Carolina tracking this month his favorability is better than Romney's, with 53% of voters holding a positive opinion of him compared to 51% for his chief competitor,” Democratic pollster Tom Jensen blogged after 10 p.m. “Gingrich's lead with evangelicals held steady today at 40-22 over Romney. He's also doing well with Tea Party voters (46-21), registered Republicans (38-30), voters describing themselves as very conservative (41-21), men (39-27), and voters in the Upstate (36-25). Romney is leading with non-evangelicals (39-30), independents (30-26), moderates (44-23), and women (32-31). The problem for him is that all of those groups are a minority within the South Carolina Republican electorate.” http://bit.ly/wPiPdv

NATE SILVER FORECAST – GINGRICH, ROMNEY HAVE EQUAL SHOT AT WINNING S.C.: “Six different South Carolina polls have been released so far on Thursday…Marist for NBC News showed Mitt Romney leading by 10 percentage points… the Tarrance Group for Politico had him ahead by 7 points. And a third traditional poll, from American Research Group, gives Mr. Gingrich a nominal one-point advantage. Meanwhile, three automated polls — by Rasmussen Reports, Public Policy Polling and InsiderAdvantage — have Mr. Gingrich in the lead instead, by margins ranging from two to six points…The FiveThirtyEight forecast model, trying to evaluate all of this information as objectively as it can, sees substantial momentum for Mr. Gingrich in South Carolina, giving him at least as strong a tailwind as Rick Santorum had in the closing days of the campaign in Iowa. The model now shows a virtual tie in the race, with Mr. Gingrich projected to get 34 percent of the vote and Mr. Romney 33.6 percent and each candidate having about a 50 percent chance of winning.” http://nyti.ms/z8AB4r

MAJORITY OF VOTERS OK WITH ROMNEY-OBAMA MATCHUP: “Six in 10 registered voters would be satisfied if Barack Obama and Mitt Romney become the nominees for president this year, while 34% would not be,” according to Gallup numbers that just posted. “Democrats are most likely to say they would be satisfied with these two candidates, while independents are least likely.” http://bit.ly/ydXBEG

PERRY QUITS – ENDORSES GINGRICH:

A FINAL INDIGNITY: “On Thursday, when he announced his ‘strategic retreat’ from the 2012 presidential race, Perry was standing in a plain conference room at a Hyatt hotel near the Charleston airport,” The Texas Tribune’s Jay Root notes. “The Hyatt was a last-minute substitute for the luxurious and more expensive downtown Marriott, its cancellation a final indignity in a campaign that was out of money and in need of a cheap and rapid exit. Perry was standing only a few miles from the historic Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, where he announced his run for president five months and six days ago.” http://bit.ly/ziW543

HE’S WILLING TO LOOK BEYOND NEWT’S INFIDELITY: “Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?” Perry said at his press conference. “I believe in the power of redemption.”

MIGHT CAMPAIGN FOR GINGRICH IN FLORIDA: “Perry planned to be in Austin at least through the weekend,” per the Houston Chronicle’s Joe Holley. “After Saturday’s primary, he planned to confer with Gingrich about campaigning for him. The governor would support and endorse the Republican nominee, [spokesman Ray] Sullivan said, and running for re-election was ‘a strong option.’” http://bit.ly/yMOgYf

MANY PERRY SUPPORTERS CAN’T STOMACH GINGRICH – TWO EXAMPLES:

“ HENRY BARBOUR, an influential Mississippi Republican and nephew of the former governor, attended Perry’s news conference to show support for his favored candidate but said immediately afterward he wouldn’t back Gingrich. ‘I like having a Republican speaker of the House,’ Barbour cracked, suggesting Gingrich would be a disaster as the GOP nominee. ‘He puts all our down-ticket candidates at risk.’” http://politi.co/xwgVgp

DAVID WILKINS: “One of Rick Perry's most well-known supporters in South Carolina, former U.S. ambassador and state speaker of the house David Wilkins, will now back Mitt Romney, he tells CNN…The Greenville Republican served as speaker of the house for 11 years, one of the longest tenures in state history. In 2000, his work as co-chairman of the George W. Bush campaign was seen as instrumental to putting that Texas leader on the map in South Carolina.” http://bit.ly/zxQNXQ

DONORS MORE LIKELY TO BREAK FOR ROMNEY: “Barry D. Wynn, a South Carolina fundraiser who left Perry's campaign to raise money for Romney two weeks ago, said he and other members of the finance team were turned off by Perry's attacks on Romney's business record. He noted that Gingrich has been even more vehement in his criticism of Bain Capital, the private equity firm that Romney led. ‘I know it's seductive for politicians to attack Wall Street, but the crowd that was raising money for Perry, they are Wall Street,’ said Wynn, a former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. ‘They are oil, energy, private equity. I don't think they're going to be comfortable being part of the Gingrich campaign when he's leading this populist campaign against Bain.’” Melanie Mason and Matea Gold in the Los Angeles Times: http://lat.ms/zbqDVN.

EVANGELICAL LEADERS MORE LIKELY TO BREAK FOR SANTORUM: John Stemberger, former co-chairman of Rick Perry’s presidential campaign in Florida who is now with Santorum, told National Review that Perry endorsing Newt Gingrich “was not a good decision from my perspective.” http://bit.ly/z6sInS

PERRY POST MORTEMS –

MAGGIE HABERMAN – FIVE THINGS THAT SUNK PERRY: The fire in the belly wasn’t there at the start. The message wasn’t clear. He just couldn’t debate. The organization wasn’t organized. Turmoil disrupted the campaign in the fall. http://politi.co/wLf29k

THE 10 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF HIS CAMPAIGN: Embracing his claim that Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme. The oops moment. That weird New Hampshire speech. Failing to get on the Virginia ballot. Confusing the voting age. Telling conservatives they are heartless. Referring to the leaders of Turkey as Islamic terrorists. Claiming that Texas schools teach creationism. Suggesting that he would like to “mate” Cain and Gingrich. Defending the Marines who urinated on Taliban corpses. The Chronicle: http://bit.ly/AoNz4N.

DAN BALZ – PERRY WAS NEVER READY FOR PRIME TIME: “As his advisers and loyalists acknowledged in the days leading up to his withdrawal, Perry was proof of the adage that you never get a second chance to make a first impression — and his first impression was politically disastrous. The debates proved his undoing…Ray Sullivan, Perry’s communications director … volunteered to reporters Thursday that, if Republicans don’t win the White House in November, Perry might try again in 2016. Had Perry told him to say that? Sullivan responded: ‘I told him it was my intention to talk about that and I didn’t get dissuaded.’” http://wapo.st/y8MNMX

THE OUSTED DAVE CARNEY – THEY STARTED TOO LATE: Perry’s ex-top political adviser acknowledged yesterday in an interview from his home in New Hampshire that “I haven't been actively involved in the campaign for quite a while, a few months.” This runs counter to early denials by Perry himself and the campaign leadership when Maggie Haberman first reported in November that Joe Allbaugh was taking over the campaign and that Carney was focusing on New Hampshire (a state where they ended up not really competing). “150 days is not enough time to be prepared and execute and run a campaign and raise money and do all the things that are necessary in the early state to be competitive. Just not enough time to lay the groundwork and build a foundation to run a campaign,” Carney told the Union Leader. “All the ups and downs of the campaign were based on the fact that there just wasn't enough time.” http://bit.ly/wcFTpo

HOUSTON CHRONICLE COLUMNIST – PERRY “CAREENED FROM THEME TO THEME”: “Only three days ago, it was Moses, God’s chosen one. Before that, Rick Perry tried on and shed other alter-egos: Galileo. Tim Tebow. William Barret Travis. The combined Allied Expeditionary Forces,” writes Patricia Kilday Hart. “The post-mortem will likely identify the campaign’s fatal flaw as a deep psychological disorder, one that revealed itself in the glare and stress of a national campaign. Since his first slip in the polls … Perry has been in the throes of a very public identity crisis as painful as pre-pubescence. The more he compared himself to exalted heroes, the brighter the spotlight shone on his shortcomings. The candidate who six months ago talked about job creation careened from theme to theme in recent weeks, as desperate to win approval as an insecure teenager.” http://bit.ly/xSr1lb

CBS – “HIS FOCUS ON SOCIAL ISSUES DIDN’T PAY OFF”: “Right before kicking off his campaign, Perry held a prayer-event called ‘The Response’ to rally the faithful, and in his Iowa ads he offered culture war rhetoric like ‘you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.’ Yet Perry's focus on social issues and religion came at a time when Americans overwhelmingly tell pollsters they are focused primarily on the economy.” http://bit.ly/ySShYe

PERRY COMES HOME TO A 42% APPROVAL RATING: “Perry had fallen so far by the end of his Presidential campaign that it's not even clear he could have defeated Barack Obama in Texas,” writes Public Policy Polling’s Tom Jensen. “Our poll of the state last weekend found Perry leading Obama just 48-47, including a 51-44 deficit with independents. Perry had led Obama by 7 points on a September poll there. Perry will come home to only a 42% approval rating, with 51% of voters disapproving of him. He's fallen from 78% to 67% favor with Republicans over the last four months, and independents split against him 35/59.” http://bit.ly/w9XJTJ

RUNNING FOR REELECTION IN 2014 WOULD BE TOUGH: Ben Philpot notes that “he may have to fight for the nomination. Attorney General Greg Abbott has been planning to run and is sitting on a $12 million campaign war chest.” http://bit.ly/AwpVNb

HUNTSMAN POST MORTEM – SPOKESMAN LOOKS AT HOW ROMNEY WON: Tim Miller writes a column for Real Clear Politics on how Boston prevailed over Huntsman and why he expects Romney will wrap up the nomination. “In 2008 he played to his audience and was unsure of his message, a bore on the stump and a pedestrian debater. This year, he had a clear message, was comfortable in his own skin, relentlessly honest, and the best debater in the field,” Tim writes. “You can’t win a campaign with Facebook posts. You can’t win a campaign without negative television ads. You can’t win a campaign while on a book tour or through satellite Fox News hits…Others tried to flout the rules. Boston knew better.” http://bit.ly/yCgxcI

PEGGY NOONAN WORRIES THE GOP IS BLOWING IT – HER SATURDAY COLUMN CAPTURES THE MOOD OF MANY PARTY ELDERS: “If you are a Republican who hates a mess, or if you are a member of that real but elusive and hydra-headed thing, the GOP establishment, you are beside yourself with anxiety and unhappiness. You think: ‘They're losing this thing! They're going to limp out of South Carolina, they'll limp through Florida, they're killing each other and killing the party's chances. How will they look by the fall? What are independents going to think of the guy we finally put up? We all know politics ain't beanbag, but it's not supposed to be a clown-car Indy 500 with cars hitting the wall and guys in wigs littering the track!’ … Mr. Obama this week blocked Keystone pipeline, a decision that means tens of thousands of jobs lost…it amounts to a scandal…Keystone happened while they were busy looking like the Keystone Kops…the past few days it didn't feel like a story that was going to end well.” http://on.wsj.com/z3siCN

REMEMBER HER? – BACHMANN SPOKESWOMAN DENIES STATEMENT ON GINGRICH: Bachmann’s lawyers pressed Gingrich’s Super PAC to take down a radio ad that implied she had endorsed Gingrich. So it was no surprise when an email widely forwarded yesterday featured the Minnesota congresswoman criticizing the former Speaker. But her team vigorously denied it to the Greenville newspaper, which ran with the initial email: “Alice Stewart, spokeswoman for the former presidential candidate, told GreenvilleOnline.com in an interview that someone forwarded the statement to her, and that even though it bore the same email address as her later, official statement, it was not from the campaign. She declined to discuss who might have sent it, saying only that campaign officials have investigated links contained in the false statement.” http://grnol.co/yVp4RO

SOURCES SAY BACHMANN HAS MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE FIELD: “Bachmann sources tell [National Review’s Robert Costa] that Charlie Black, the longtime GOP power broker and Romney backer, is reaching out to the Minnesotan, urging her to back the former Massachusetts governor. But Bachmann has rebuffed the overtures, sources say. ‘We’re not endorsing anyone,’ one source says. ‘They’re trying to get us to sign on, but there has been no commitment on our end. She will not endorse before South Carolina, she probably won’t endorse before Florida, and she may not endorse even when the likely nominee emerges.’ Bachmann has mixed feelings, sources say, about the remaining contenders. She respects aspects of Ron Paul’s fiscal arguments, but she has problems with his foreign-policy positions. She agrees with Rick Santorum on social issues, but she has concerns about his congressional spending record. And she is unenthusiastic about both Gingrich and Romney. ‘She’s listening but she’s doing things slowly right now,’ the source explains.” FUN COLOR: “After she left the race, Bachmann went to Florida for a week and relaxed. One of the trip’s highlights: spending time with Rush Limbaugh, who was celebrating his birthday.” http://bit.ly/xhv40S

SANTORUM SCRUTINY – NEW YORK TIMES FRONTS A PROFILE ON QUICK RISE FROM REFORMER TO INSIDER: “A look at the arc of Mr. Santorum’s political career, from his days as a fresh-faced College Republican to his bruising defeat for a third term in 2006, reveals a side of Mr. Santorum beyond that of reformer and abortion foe,” Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes in the Times’ Long Read series. “He emerges as a savvy operator and sharp tactician, a climber who became a member of the Washington establishment that he had once railed against.” http://nyti.ms/xBcVkf

CAIN IS BACK – ENDORSES “THE PEOPLE”: In a keynote speech here at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Cain finally unveiled his “unconventional endorsement” — the people who will decide the race. Cain didn’t outright reject the idea of endorsing a candidate in the GOP race, but argued that he doesn’t want to risk alienating his supporters. “If I make an endorsement of a specific candidate right now, it might split my support,” he said. “I want my people and my supporters to remain inspired.” http://politi.co/weOVvQ

CAIN REJOINS ATLANTA RADIO STATIONS FOR DAILY COMMENTARIES: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that “Cain has signed back with his former employer AM750 and 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB. Starting [Thursday], he will provide pre-taped two-minute commentaries each weekday at 8:45 a.m. during Neal Boortz’smorning show and repeated at 6:45 p.m. during Erick Erickson’s evening program. (Cain’s first topic this morning: the Keystone pipeline.) … This arrangement is set for at least through Election Day this year.” http://bit.ly/Ad8fHy

MONEY IN POLITICS – WASHINGTON POST EXPLORES GINGRICH, ADELSON FRIENDSHIP: “Perhaps no other major presidential candidate in recent times has had his fortunes based so squarely on the contributions of a single donor, as Gingrich has on Adelson, who has spent millions in support of Gingrich and his causes over the past five years,” James Grimaldi writes. “After putting up the seed money and ultimately $7.7 million between 2006 and 2010 for a nonprofit group that served as a precursor to Gingrich’s presidential campaign, Adelson, 78, an irascible Las Vegas billionaire, doubled down this month, giving $5 million to a political action committee run by former close aides to Gingrich… The FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating his company, Las Vegas Sands, in connection with allegations that Adelson ordered an executive to bribe Chinese officials by putting them on the payroll. Adelson and company officials deny the allegations, which they say were first made by a disgruntled former employee.” http://wapo.st/xWjCcE

WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS UP TO: “In the morning, the President will meet with Secretary of State Clinton in the Oval Office. In the afternoon, the President will attend a campaign event in Washington, D.C. Later, the President will meet with senior advisors in the Oval Office.”

LAST NIGHT IN HARLEM: "I...I'm so in love with you.” – President Obama sang a line from “Let’s stay together” to donors as he raised money at the Apollo Theater. Video: http://bit.ly/yonydM.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR – AFTER THE STATE OF THE UNION. Take a step back for reactions to the President’s speech and a look at the year ahead. Mike Allen and John Harris on Jan. 25 will talk with Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). RSVP: http://bit.ly/xBZGrC.

CODA – QUOTE OF THE DAY: “You might think Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty are some of the best-known Minnesotans. That's not true at all. The best-known Minnesotan is now the soon-to-be former Mr. Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries. Remember him? … And a lot of people feel sorry for him. I don't want you to feel too sorry for him, I mean his marriage lasted longer than my presidential campaign.” http://huff.to/AhWzjz

Authors:

About The Author

James Hohmann is a reporter for POLITICO Pro.

He covered the 2012 presidential campaign from start to finish, authoring the daily Morning Score tipsheet for nearly two years as he reported from 23 states over the course of the primaries and general election. Through the fall, he traveled with Mitt Romney.

Hohmann spent 2010 chronicling the Republican Party’s drive to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

He arrived from The Washington Post at the end of 2009. Previously he wrote for the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau, the Dallas Morning News and The San Jose Mercury News.

An honors graduate of Stanford University, Hohmann studied American political history. He served as editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily and wrote an award-winning thesis about the 1976 Republican primaries and the political ascendancy of Ronald Reagan.